LINK 'Syrup' abuse rising in Houston Pharmacists' trial spotlights illicit use of the cough medicine By HARVEY RICE Copyright 2005 Houston Chronicle The abuse of a codeine-fortified cough syrup is so widespread among youths here that Houston has become nationally known in the rap culture as "the City of Syrup," a local researcher says. Prosecutors will focus on the illegal distribution of the medication in the trial of six pharmacists, beginning today in a Houston federal court. The pharmacists are the first to be prosecuted here on accusations of illegally dispensing the highly addictive prescription cough syrup codeine with promethazine. The syrup has been used at least once by about 30 percent of teenagers in the Houston area, says Ron Peters, a professor at the University of Texas School of Public Health in Houston. The figures from a yet-unpublished study based on a 2004 survey show an increase from Peters' earlier study, published in 2003, which concluded that 25 percent of teenagers at six alternative schools in Harris County had used the drug at least once. Peters did not name the schools. About 10 percent of the teens in the earlier study said they had used the drug in the past 30 days. "Anything over 4 percent in the last 30 days is a major drug problem," Peters said. Those figures may be too conservative, said Troy Jefferson, who heads a drug treatment center for children and adolescents at Riverside General Hospital in Houston. Jefferson said that, out of more than 5,000 teens treated at the clinic in the past seven years, as many as 35 percent had tried prescription cough syrup more than once. Houston Police Department spokesman Lt. Robert Manzo said the cough syrup is "extremely popular," but he declined to comment about enforcement efforts. A U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration spokesman declined to comment because of the pending trial, in which DEA agents are expected to testify. One of Jefferson's patients, Austin Hewitt, 16, of Humble, said he and his friends mixed the syrup with Sprite or a variation of Sprite called Remix. "It's pretty popular," Hewitt said, adding that the cough syrup is easy to get. Jury selection begins today in the retrial of pharmacists John David Wiley III, 40, and Anthony Dwayne Essett, 38, co-owners of I-10 East Pharmaceutical Services; Otukayode Adeleke Otufale, 44, owner of Med Stop Pharmacy at 6440 Hillcroft; Isaac Simeon Achobe, 50, owner of American Choice Pharmacy at 8449 W. Bellfort; and Chicha Kazembe Combs, 29, and Andre Dion Brown, 37, co-owners of Mason Road Pharmacy in Katy. U.S. District Judge David Hittner ordered the retrial after a jury in May was unable to reach a verdict. The six are accused in a 170-count indictment of illegally dispensing thousands of gallons of the cough syrup and thousands of tablets of hydrocodone, a synthetic narcotic used as a painkiller. They also are charged with conspiracy and money laundering. Hydrocodone, more often known by the brand name Vicodin, is a widely abused prescription drug that is always in demand on the illicit market, Peters said. But the widespread use of codeine with promethazine is widely believed to have begun in Houston, along with the popularity of a type of rap music developed by local record producer D.J. Screw, who died in 2000 of an overdose of the drug he promoted in his songs. The producer, whose real name was Robert Earl Davis Jr., developed a slowed-down form of rap called "screw" that extols the use of prescription cough syrup known on the street by such names as "syrup, lean, purple, syzurp, drank or purple jelly." Now, Houston rappers such as nationally known Mike Jones lace their "screw" music with such lyrics as, "I keep that purple stuff in my cup," a reference to mixing cough syrup with soft drinks. Peters said screw music and the abuse of the cough syrup has spread nationwide and into Canada. The popularity has given Houston nicknames such as "City of Syrup and City of Lean," he said. "Now, Houston is setting the trend for the drug culture and it is being spread through rap," he said. "This is something that is a major problem throughout the United States." Hewitt and K.D. Garner, 31, a University of Houston student who says "syrup" is widely used in his neighborhood, say the drug is most often made available by unscrupulous doctors. Peters said users sometimes obtain a legitimate prescription by faking a serious cough. The pharmacists' attorneys argued during the first trial that their clients didn't know they were filling fake prescriptions based on names lifted from a phone book by a doctor running a prescription mill. Dr. Callie Hall Herpin, who pleaded guilty, testified during the first trial that another doctor showed her how to start a practice based on illegally dispensing controlled drugs. Two office workers, who also pleaded guilty, admitted that they prepared prescriptions from computer-generated lists of phony patients that Herpin testified she signed without reading.
